The Family Business
by AngstAngstAngstLove
Summary: Since Sam went to college, he's been hunting with his younger sister, Sam's twin, Amanda. With their father missing and both Amanda and Sam having strange similar dreams, will Sam rejoin the hunt? AU from pilot forward.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm not the biggest fan of sis-fics, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head. I hope you enjoy, please let me know what you think!**

"Damn it!" Dean growled, throwing his cell phone across the room in a childish fit of anger, "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

He had been trying to call his father repeatedly for days and now, instead of getting voicemail, he was getting a disconnection notice. Nothing infuriated him more than not knowing what was going on, and he didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to get worried.

With a kick to the table leg, he paced around the dingy hotel room, trying to come up with a new plan of action. Apparently, laying low and waiting it out was not going to work, so it was time to come up with a plan B.

He felt like he was to blame for all of this. After finishing his case in New Orleans, he had spent the better part of a weekend becoming well-acquainted with Bourbon Street and it had taken an entire Monday to recuperate. It wasn't until Tuesday morning that he realized he hadn't heard from his father in over a week. While John wasn't one to call daily, or even every few days, it was a well-established tradition that he checked in with Dean every Sunday evening just to touch base on what cases he had a lead on, what the next plan of action was, to make sure there were no problems. Now, a second Sunday had passed with no call and Dean couldn't shake the feeling that there was something going on that he needed to know about.

He shoved clothes into his duffel bag, wishing he had packed up and hit the road a week ago when he first noticed there was a problem. He wasn't one to rest on his laurels and wait for a solution, he was a man of action, but it was his own father's protocol that dictated his movements; hunts sometimes took longer than expected, so jumping to conclusions usually just caused unnecessary worry.

Dean picked up a pair of dark purple socks and tossed them onto the other bed, grumbling under his breath about little sisters who leave their shit everywhere, and moved to the bathroom to start packing up in there. When he flicked on the light, a large cockroach ran across the floor and Dean made a slightly disgusted face at the large insect. He was not afraid nor unaccustomed to bugs in the types of places they frequented, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it. He was slightly satisfied at the crunching sound it made under his boot, and he wiped his shoe off on a towel that was laying, discarded on the floor.

After making sure all of his things were stashed away, he walked to his discarded phone and picked it up, glancing at the time before hitting number two on his speed dial.

"Where the hell are you?" Dean asked as soon as his younger sister had answered the phone, "I'm ready to go, get your ass back here."

He hung up without waiting for a response, knowing she couldn't have gone far because he had the keys to the car in his jeans pocket. If he knew her as well as he thought he did, and he was pretty sure he did, she was probably in the parking lot talking to their traitorous brother Sam, who had left them several years back to go to college, of all places. Sam rarely came up in conversation between the two of them, not after Dean and Dad had cut all communication with the younger Winchester. As far as Dean knew, Amanda hadn't made the same commitment in protest of Sam leaving the family, but she was smart enough to keep contact with her twin far away from Dean and Dad's ears.

He opened the motel room door, scanning the parking lot for the petite brunette, and sure enough he spotted her leaning against a metal pole a few doors down, her back to Dean and her cell phone pressed against her ear. As he got closer, he could hear her end of the conversation.

"I have been trying for months to get Dean to agree to a case near Palo Alto, I'm dying to meet her."

Dean wondered who the mysterious 'her' was...did Sammy have a girlfriend? The bitter part of him who still resented Sam for abandoning their family was screaming that Sam shouldn't be wasting his time with chicks when he had specifically left his family to further his education-girls had nothing to do with school. The rational side of him, however, was silently cheering that Sam had found someone important enough to be with for months, if Amanda's words were anything to go by, which is more luck than Dean had experienced in the girl department. His musing was cut off by Amanda's laughter, and he wondered what was so funny. Last he knew, Sam wasn't exactly the comedian of the family.

"I really should get going," Amanda spoke into the phone, a hint of sadness in her voice, "Dean's ready to go and you know how he gets if you keep him waiting. It was great talking to you, though."

While Dean couldn't see Amanda's face, he could hear the smile when she spoke, "I miss you too, Sam. I wish I could come see you." She paused as Sam responded, and then she snorted, "Right, that would go over like a lead balloon. The last thing I need is to be on Dean's bad side."

Dean was about to interrupt and tell her to get a move on when she started talking again, "Since when do you drink? A Halloween party at a bar sounds more of a me-and-Dean thing than a you thing." She laughed, then said in a tone that was way too motherly for his little sister, "Just be careful and don't overdo it. I'll talk to you in a few days, okay?" She was quiet for a moment, and then she said quietly, "I love you, Sam. Bye."

She sighed deeply, resting her head against the cool metal pole for a moment, clearly trying to gather her thoughts before returning to her other brother. She turned around, letting out a shriek and dropping her phone when she found herself standing mere inches away from her big brother, "Christ, Dean, you scared the hell out of me!"

He was too busy laughing to respond, the awkwardness he had felt eavesdropping on her phone call disappearing, and just as he was getting control over his joy at scaring Amanda, she flipped him off, which made him start laughing all over again. "Come on, Mandy, you can't be that jumpy as a hunter, what the hell?"

"I didn't hear you approaching." Amanda defended herself, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to hear you and Sam having a girly little chat on the phone." Dean retorted, and as much as he loathed to admit it, there was a rather sizable part of him that was dying to hear about the latest news in Sam's life. He wasn't going to ask, though, he could just hope that Amanda was in the mood to share. After all, he had sworn off contact with his little brother and he wasn't going to give in now just because Amanda knew more than he did.

Though he really hated to be out of the loop.

Amanda's gaze darkened at the mention of Sam, and she pushed past her big brother and started walking towards their motel room, calling over her shoulder, "What's it to you if Sam and I were talking? You and Dad were the ones who decided he wasn't worthy of being in our family anymore, it doesn't bother me that he wanted to do his own thing and be on his own for awhile."

"He abandoned us." Dean reminded her, grabbing his duffels and pausing at the door to look at his younger sister, "Not just me and Dad, but all of us. How can you forgive that?"

"He may have walked out the door, but you guys slammed it shut, locked it and threw away the key." Amanda responded as she sorted through her clothing to make sure she had everything. Being on the road meant you had to travel light, but being a hunter meant you can't afford to replace things that don't absolutely need replacing, so it was best never to leave anything behind. She shook her head, looking in her brother's direction, "I know it sucked when he left, believe me I know, but he was miserable here."

"He was not." Dean scoffed, a tone of defensiveness in his voice.

"Yes, he was." Amanda insisted, "And now he's not. Believe it or not, he's like a whole different person. He's happy, he's making a name for himself, he has a girlfriend. I've never known Sam to be as relaxed and happy as he is now."

Dean didn't respond, anger stirring in his gut at the idea of Sam being happy away from him, away from Amanda. It was no secret that Sam and their Dad had butted heads on plenty of occasions, but Dean hated the idea that Sam had been miserable around him. Of course, over the last few years that Sam was at home, Dean had spent more time away hunting with Dad and the twins had been home alone for the majority of the time. Knowing how close the younger two were, he wondered how miserable Sam could have really been; how he could have walked away when Dad was hardly even around.

Amanda met Dean at the door, her bag on her shoulder, and asked, "Ready to hit the road?"

"Am I ever." Dean responded, happy to have a distraction from the idea of Sam. "We're going to head towards California. Jericho, that's where Dad was working, so that's where we're going to start looking for him. Hopefully nothing's wrong and we'll be able to get some answers quickly."

"We could-"

"We're not stopping to visit Sam." Dean interrupted, knowing exactly what his sister was thinking, "Don't even ask."

"You don't have to be an ass." Amanda muttered good-naturedly as she slid into the front seat. She had known Dean wouldn't even entertain the idea, but she had to try. "Any chance of listening to anything other than Metallica?"

"House rules, Mandy."

"Don't I know it." Amanda grumbled, "It would be nice if I had a chance to drive on occasion so I could pick my own music."

Dean raised an eyebrow, asking, "Didn't you drive just a few weeks ago?"

"When I spend the entire drive worrying about my big brother who is possibly bleeding to death in the backseat, I don't really think about playing my music." Amanda replied dryly, "Perhaps you should relinquish the keys when it's not a dire emergency."

"My baby would spontaneously combust if you put on the crap you call music."

Amanda rolled her eyes, then pulled out her ipod and jammed her headphones into her ear. While her brother was more than happy to listen to the older cassette tapes that their father had left behind in the car when he had gifted it to Dean, Amanda was a teenager of the 90s and her taste in music reflected as such.

"On the way out of town, can we stop for some beignets?" she asked before pushing the play button on her playlist.

As if on cue, Dean's stomach growled loudly, thus sealing the deal. There were plenty of thoughts, opinions and ideals that Amanda and Dean did not see eye to eye on, but when it came to food, they always seemed to agree on a few principles: the greasier the better, it was never too early or too late to eat, some places were worth visiting just because of the dining options and there was no such thing as 'too much'. It was a miracle that both were as healthy as they were, with all of the crap they ingested.

Four hours later, as they were crossing into Texas, Amanda glanced in her brother's direction, apprehension clear on her face. She couldn't stand the fact that they were going to be so close to Sam and not even bother stopping in. She and Sam had been very close growing up, and it had literally been years since they had seen each other. She wanted nothing more than to hug him tightly and never let him go. While their Dad and Dean had a bit of self-righteous anger that kept them from abandoning all promises and threats made in the heat of the moment, she had not experienced a blow-up, knock-down, drag-out fight with her brother and therefore there was nothing to stop her from feeling every ounce of loneliness in his absence. She knew Dean would be pissed if she continued to hint that she wanted to make a stop at Stanford, and she couldn't even say that Sam would be an asset (even though she thought he would) because Dean would just remind her that Sam wanted out of hunting and that he made his choice. Not for the first time, she wished everything wasn't so black and white with Dean, and that he had the ability to see the grey in the middle.

After debating on whether or not to even bring Sam's name up again, she sighed and decided to just bite the bullet. "Dean?"

"Yeah?" Dean responded, his eyes on the road. The drive had been silent for the last few hours and he had just assumed she had fallen asleep. He didn't like the tone of her voice, though, as that heavy and serious tone usually meant they were going to have a discussion that would end with yelling at each other and/or her crying, which always made him uncomfortable.

"What would it hurt to stop at Stanford?" Amanda asked quietly after a few moments of hesitation, "I mean, it's not like you have to even see him or talk to him, just give me an hour and go get some pie or something."

Dean stared at the road ahead of them with a scowl darkening his features. He should have known that was what she was going to talk about, this was the exact reason why they never took cases in California, and instead their father would go. The temptation was too much for her and the last thing in the world he wanted was for her to spend some time with Sam, decide to stay with him and then leave. He had already lost one sibling, he wasn't going to put himself in the position to lose another.

"Don't be mad, Dean." Amanda murmured, "I just miss him. It's been years...it's not like I'm asking for us to be a family again, I just want to see my brother."

"We have to find Dad."

"Can we stop by Stanford after we find Dad?"

"No."

Amanda frowned, tears stinging her eyes though she refused to let them fall. She knew how her older brother and father felt about loyalty and she understood where they were coming from, even if she didn't agree with it, but she didn't think it was fair that she should have to miss out on her brother's life when it wasn't even her choice to cut all contact with him.

Their father had raised them all to be co-dependent, as far as she was concerned. He had left for days and weeks at a time when they were all too young to be home alone. He had practically appointed Dean the guardian of both Sam and Amanda and had given them instructions that included staying together in a motel room for days and weeks on end, with only each other for company. They had no other family, very few friends...growing up, they only had each other. Amanda was pretty sure that was the reason Dean felt abandoned by Sam when Sam decided to go away to school. On the other hand, she knew that this environment was smothering to Sam and he just wanted to see what life was like on the other side. She could remember a game that they used to play, holed up in crappy hotel rooms during their early teen years, when Dad had started recruiting Dean to go on jobs and left her and Sam behind to go to school, research or something else that was out of the direct line of danger. She would be laying on one bed, Sam on the other (a rarity, because when Dean was home he usually got one bed while she and Sam shared the other, and when Dad was home, someone always had to take the floor) and they would throw out scenarios to each other, wondering how a normal family who had a home, three meals every day, steady work with normal hours and maybe even a pet would handle them. Sometimes it was silly, like winning the lottery, but when Sam was feeling particularly unhappy with his current situation, it would take a serious turn. The last time they had talked about this, Sam had asked about college, and she had the sinking suspicion that the game was no longer hypothetical.

Either she had been quiet for too long or Dean had seen the unshed tears shining in her eyes, because moments later Dean decided they needed gas and when she returned from the restroom, there was an ice cream sandwich sitting on her seat-a familiar peace offering. Nothing more was said about Sam, and they were back on the road.

It was several hours before Dean tried to break the silence, and Amanda had almost drifted off to sleep when Dean said, "We'll have to find a Target or Wal-Mart or something in the morning."

"What do you need?" Amanda asked curiously, wondering why he was already planning a stop for the next day. Typically, the only stops Dean planned in advance were ones centered around favorite diners or perhaps a favorite bakery in an area.

Dean raised an eyebrow, looking at Amanda like she had completely lost her mind, "Dude, today is Halloween."

"And?"

"Tomorrow all of the candy will be half-off. Peanut M&Ms? Snickers bars? Half-priced candy is my favorite kind of candy."

Amanda rolled her eyes dramatically, though she silently agreed. She pulled out the map, tracing along the route with her finger, and asked, "Are we going to stop for the night or go straight through?"

"Is something wrong?" Dean asked, always jumping to conclusions when there was a chance for his over-protective big brother side to emerge, "Do you need to stop?"

Amanda shook her head, "No, I'd tell you if something was wrong." And that was very true, out of the entire family, Amanda was the only one who was likely to speak up if she was hurt, sick or otherwise in need of assistance. "I was just curious. If we're going to drive straight through, I want to change into something more comfortable."

"Don't go all 'Princess and the Pea' on me, Mandy." Dean warned teasingly. He knew that Amanda could adapt to any situation, but she preferred to be as comfortable as possible. He didn't really blame her, but he did like to poke fun as much as possible, especially when she insisted on changing into fuzzy pajama pants for an overnight drive.

"Ha ha." Amanda retorted dryly, "You're a riot, Dean."

"I was thinking we would stop around Abilene." Dean offered, "Find a room, try Dad again, maybe watch a slasher flick on TV? They always play the classics on Halloween."

It went without saying that he was trying to apologize for shooting her down about Sam. Dean knew that her favorite burgers came from a place just outside Abilene and that gory slasher movies were her favorite guilty pleasure. He also knew that she would put up with driving through the night, but she much preferred a bed to sleep in. Dean had practically raised her, he knew more about her than she sometimes knew about herself, so when he wanted to make a gesture to make her feel better he always hit the proverbial nail on the head.

"With burgers and onion rings?" Amanda asked hopefully, suddenly starving even though they had already had breakfast, lunch and two snacks. There were certain foods she always had room for, even if she had already stuffed herself previously.

Dean shot her a look that plainly asked if she was stupid or something, because if anyone understood her love affair with burgers and onion rings, it was Dean. "I'm not going to starve." Dean scoffed, "And you got it wrong...burgers, onion rings and milkshakes dude. The milkshake brings it all together."

"Milkshakes." Amanda said dreamily, nodding in appreciation, "Sounds perfect."

They barely made it into town before closing time, Dean having to break several speed laws to ensure they'd experience dinner heaven, but they managed to make it to their long-awaited dinner and eat an obnoxious amount of grease before hunting down a motel room for the night. Dean tossed his duffel on the ground next to his bed and then flopped ungracefully onto the mattress, giving Amanda a thumbs up.

"Soft mattress, thank God."

Amanda quickly jumped onto her own bed, giving a pleased moan at the softness of the mattress. The motel they had stayed in while in New Orleans had beds that rivaled slabs of concrete. This was heaven in comparison, and a rarity that the quality of motel they chose had beds that didn't leave them sore in the morning. She grabbed the remote from the table between her bed and Dean's and turned on the TV, hitting the button to change the channel until she came across something that promised blood, guts and bad acting.

"I picked us up something at a gas station earlier." Dean commented, retrieving a brown paper bag from his duffel, "Celebrating another holiday, Winchester-style."

Amanda watched as Dean pulled out a bottle of amber-colored liquid that she recognized as scotch and assisted by getting the two wrapped plastic cups from the bathroom sink so he could pour them each a glass. "Bottoms up, big brother."

Half of the bottle and many hours later, the siblings were sitting together on Dean's bed, yelling at the stupid girl on the television who was wandering down into the basement, alone, to investigate a mysterious noise.

"She deserves to die for her sheer stupidity." Amanda commented, "If we ran into her on a hunt, I'd feed her to the damn monster."

"Eat her!" Dean joined in, "Stupid bitch."

Despite the b-grade effects, plot and acting, not to mention knowing exactly what was about to happen, Amanda still shrieked and buried her head in Dean's shoulder when the girl was attacked, bloodily decapitated while crappy music played in the background.

"We could have ganked that SOB in the first fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen? Try five, little sister."

Amanda was about to comment on Dean's supersized ego when her cell phone began to ring. She frowned, recognizing the ring tone as the one she set for Sam, though she hadn't heard that particular melody in ages, since she was always the one who called him. Dean raised an eyebrow, not recognizing the tone and knowing exactly what that meant. The phone rang twice, then three times and finally Dean snapped, "Are you going to answer it or not?"

Feeling uneasy and not knowing what to expect, she pushed the green button to answer the call, "Hello?"

"Hey 'Manda!"

Amanda's frown intensified, not being able to place exactly why her brother sounded...off...but knowing something wasn't right. With concern evident in her voice, she asked, "Sam, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, 'Manda." Sam said cheerfully, so cheerfully that she could almost hear the smile in his voice, "I just missed you."

"You called me to tell me you missed me?" Amanda asked with a puzzled expression that soon gave way to understanding, "Sam? Are you drunk?"

"Noooooo." Sam drawled, "I'm not drunk at all."

Peals of laughter could be heard through the line following Sam's statement and Amanda could only imagine that the laughter was coming from Sam's girlfriend. She grinned at the ridiculousness and _normalness_ of the situation, happy that her brother seemed to be having a good Halloween despite the fact that he loathed the day.

"Did you have fun at your party, Sam?"

"Lots of fun." Sam responded, his voice taking a childlike quality in his impaired state, "There were costumes, shots, friends…"

"I'm glad you had fun."

"I wish you were here, you could have shotted with us." Sam paused, seeming to know he hadn't used the right word, "Shooted?" Amanda could hear a murmur from Sam's end and then Sam said in an almost triumphant tone, "Had shots! They were awesome."

Amanda grinned at the ridiculousness of the conversation, catching Dean's eye and mouthing 'He's wasted'.

"You really shouldn't be out drinking, Sammy, you're a lightweight."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Am not." Amanda repeated, amused.

"Am too!" Sam responded stubbornly, though she could almost hear the moment that what he said registered, and after a moment, he said in a pouty voice, "That's not funny."

"Did you drive home?"

"Got a cab." Sam replied, now starting to sound tired instead of hyper. "I just wanted to see what you were doing. I always think about what you're doing. I miss you."

"Oh God, you're a sappy drunk." Amanda groaned, glancing at Dean who was wearing an almost unreadable expression on his face, before turning her attention back to Sam, "Dean and I are watching slasher movies on television. We're in Texas."

"I miss Dean, too." Sam admitted, sounding downright sad now.

Amanda sighed, "I know you do, Sammy. We miss you, too. At least you're not alone, you have Jess to keep you company."

"She's going to do more than keep me company." Sam said giddily, and Amanda could hear Jessica protesting in the background.

"That's TMI, Sam." Amanda laughed, "Really, that's gross. I don't need to know what you and Jess do in your spare time."

Sam was quiet for a minute, and then he groaned miserably, "My head is starting to hurt."

"That's an unfortunate side effect of the alcohol." Amanda soothed, "Why don't you go to bed?"

"Bed...good." Sam mumbled, though Amanda could hear him shuffling around, presumably getting comfortable in his bed, "Love you 'Manda."

"I love you too, Sammy." Amanda soothed, "I hope you don't feel like shit when you wake up."

There was silence for a few moments before a light rustling indicated someone taking the phone from Sam, and a girl's voice came over the line, "Sorry about that, he's out."

"Sounds like he had a good night." Amanda laughed, trying not to let her excitement after hearing Jessica's voice show. She had been eagerly anticipating the day she got to meet the person Sam had confided may wind up being her future sister-in-law and even though it wasn't face-to-face, Amanda was excited just to hear the other girl's voice. "He's probably going to be hungover as hell in the morning, he doesn't have a very good tolerance."

"Yeah, I figured as much. I hope he didn't interrupt something important. Once he got it in his mind that he was going to call you, there was no stopping him."

"No, it's fine. Just remind him of how loopy he was if he doesn't remember in the morning." Amanda laughed, "Good night, Jessica."

Amanda hung up her cell phone, and then looked to Dean, rolling her eyes, "He's going to be a bear tomorrow when he wakes up."

"I can't believe his girlfriend would let him get blitzed enough to start drunk-dialing." Dean said, disapproval evident in his tone, "Do you think he remembers the recipe for Dad's hangover cure?"

"With as loopy as Sam sounded, I think if he tries to ingest anything with spices and raw eggs in it tomorrow morning, he'll puke his brains out. I'm sure he's going to go with the standard water-aspirin-sleep cure. And I don't think she let him do anything, Sam doesn't really wait for permission to do anything, does he?"

"No, he doesn't." Dean agreed, "We should hit the sack, it's late and we have a long drive ahead of us."

"Sleep sounds amazing." Amanda agreed. Next to eating, sleeping was one of her favorite activities, and one that hunting severely got in the way of at times.

She rolled off of Dean's bed and fell onto her own, her eyes growing heavy at just the idea of sleeping. As she dozed off, she heard Dean shuffling around and dialing a number, presumably to try their Dad again. Before she could tell if he had gotten through, she lost the battle to stay awake.

After Amanda was asleep, Dean pulled out a picture from his wallet that had been taken the summer after Sam had graduated high school, just a few weeks before he had left for California. He tried to pretend like it didn't bother him that Sam had his own life away from them now, but it was so hard to do when his brother was thrown back into conversations and phone calls. It was easier to forget when Sam was a distant memory, when there were no reminders. Today was not one of those days. Sliding the picture back into his wallet, Dean closed his eyes and took a deep breath, not wanting to lose his resolve to keep far away from his younger brother. He knew that if he agreed with Amanda to stop by Stanford, even for an hour, he wouldn't be able to keep from letting Sam back into his heart and he wasn't sure he could take it should Sam decide to distance himself once more.

He awoke the following morning with memories of his younger siblings at the front of his mind, and before he had time to dwell on them, he forced himself to get moving and busy. He took a shower and dressed before walking to Amanda and shaking her arm gently, "Mandy, wake up."

"I feel like crap." Amanda replied, rolling over and burying her face into her pillow, "Go away."

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, taking a seat next to her on the bed and feeling her exposed cheek. She didn't feel feverish and he didn't think she had drank enough to be suffering today; even though they had made quite a dent in the bottle, neither had a low tolerance for alcohol, which was one of the side effects of hunting.

Amanda mumbled something into her pillow that Dean couldn't understand, and he tugged on her arm again to try and get an intelligible response, "Come on, talk to me."

"Stop shaking me." she groaned, bringing her hands up to her head, "My head hurts."

"Migraine?" Dean asked worriedly, although those had always been Sam's territory, "Hangover?"

"Just a headache," Amanda whispered, rolling over to her back and blinking slowly at Dean, "I kept having strange dreams last night, now my head hurts."

"Does anything else hurt?" Dean asked, "Do you feel nauseous or anything?"

"No." Amanda groaned, "Just let me sleep for another hour."

With a sigh, Dean stood and said quietly, as to not hurt her aching head worse, "I'll go get coffee and breakfast for us, gas up the car and get ready to go. I'll be back in an hour."

"Thank God." Amanda moaned as she heard the door shut behind him. She pulled the pillow over her head to shut out the little bit of light the curtains were letting in and concentrated on breathing normally through the pain. It wasn't the first time that she had vivid dreams that caused intense headaches, but it was the first time that they had involved Sam and what she thought might be Sam's girlfriend.

After about half an hour, the intense throbbing in her head receded to a dull ache and Amanda took advantage of being alone to pull out her phone and call Sam. She was well-aware that it was only about 6:30 am in Palo Alto, but she had to know that Sam and Jessica were okay after the dream that had plagued her all night long.

"Hello?" Sam croaked weakly, sounding like he felt just as lousy as she did.

Amanda cleared her throat, talking quietly, "Hey, Sam. Did I wake you?"

"No, I've been up for an hour or so."

He didn't say it, but Amanda recognized the hoarseness of his voice and early hours as cues that he had been sick, probably from the alcohol. Deciding not to embarrass him, as was the case when anyone saw any weaknesses from him, she asked, "Are you and Jess okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Sam asked, his breath catching in a way that worried Amanda that maybe he was lying.

Amanda closed her eyes, wondering how much to tell him. Sam knew she had dreams that sometimes came true-Sam did as well, so he wasn't even freaked out by the idea-but she had never had those dreams about him before.

"I had a dream last night, several times. In my dream, you were laying in bed, and-"

"Jess died in a fire like Mom did?" Sam asked, his breath coming in a shallow, panting rhythm., "Right? Bursting into flame on the ceiling?"

"You've had them too?" Amanda confirmed, her voice wavering slightly in panic. They both had experienced dreams that bordered on premonitions from time to time, but they had never both had them at the same time.

Sam was silent for a moment, and then he moaned, "Hold on a sec, ok?"

She knew she'd never get a straight answer out of her brother, but she could only imagine that he had just gone to be sick again. She certainly felt like she could be as well, and she wasn't as hungover as she knew her twin had to be. What did it mean, if both she and Sam were having the same dream? Should she talk to Dean? Would he think of it as an excuse to go to Stanford to see their brother? Would he even believe her?

A few moments later, she heard the phone rustling again and Sam's voice was now even huskier than before, "What do you think it means?"

"I think it means you need to get the hell out of your apartment." Amanda said bluntly, "Dean went to get breakfast, when he gets back I'm going to convince him that you need our help and we'll come dig around and see if we can prevent it."

"Where are you now?"

"Abilene, Texas." Amanda said, her voice heavy with disappointment, "We're at least a day out, not including stops."

"Shit." Sam swore, "I'll take Jess to a hotel, I'll try to explain what's going on without sounding totally crazy. And we'll just keep moving until you guys get here. Or maybe I'll send her to her mother's?"

"No, keep her close. If anyone can save her, you can." Amanda replied, rising to pack her things while holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder, "And don't freak out, we'll be there as soon as we can."

"If Dean agrees to come."

"He'll agree." Amanda reassured Sam, "Are you okay?"

"For a guy whose girlfriend is about to die?"

"No, for a guy who called me last night completely trashed." Amanda snorted, trying to lighten the mood, "You sound sick."

"I'm fine." Sam retorted in his standard trademark response, "I should go, I need to explain this to Jess and come up with an action plan. Stay in touch?"

"Of course. Stay safe, Sammy."

"You too, Mandy."

Amanda hung up and finished throwing her minimal possessions into her duffle, not concerned in the least that everything was disorganized and messy, and after slipping on her boots, she dialed Dean, tying her laces as the phone rang.

"You up?"

"Where are you? We need to go, now."

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, immediately on alert after hearing the slight panic in her voice, "Is something there?"

"No, I'm fine. I'll explain it to you when you get here, but we need to go, now."

The door opened and Dean walked in, hanging up his phone and immediately enveloping his sister in his arms when he saw the expression on her face. Patting her back gently for a moment, he pulled away and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's Sam." Amanda responded, tears evident in her voice though she struggled to hold them back, "We've got to go to California, it's an emergency."


	2. Chapter 2

Dean tapped his fingers anxiously against the steering wheel, glancing around almost nervously as he passed a car. Beside him, Amanda was asleep, her head resting against the window. He loathed driving on the interstate, with traffic cameras, patrolling cops and the sheer volume of people. He had been taught at a young age to stick to highways, back roads where anonymity was easier. Today, though, he was in a hurry. Sammy needed him.

He didn't expect to feel this way when Amanda told him about the dreams she and Sam had been having. He had always been very protective of his siblings, it was his job to keep them safe, but he had turned off his "Sam-intuition" for so long that he had forgotten how powerful it actually was. All he could think of was getting to Stanford as quickly as possible to save his little brother and the girlfriend. Suddenly, it was like the past few years never happened.

He glanced at Amanda when she moaned in her sleep, shifting in such a manner that Dean knew she was dreaming again. He reached over, tapping her arm lightly, "Mandy, wake up."

She didn't respond right away, and Dean was about to reach over again when she jolted awake with a start, breathing heavily and looking around the car wildly, trying to figure out where she was and what was going on.

"Was it the dream?" Dean asked, not needing to clarify which dream he was speaking of.

Amanda nodded silently, still able to clearly see Jessica's body bursting into flames and the sheer look of anguish on her brother's face. She was fairly certain that even if they managed to prevent Jess's death, she would be haunted by that image forever. She shakily reached for the water bottle she had been drinking from earlier and uncapped it, taking a swig before rummaging around in the glovebox for a bottle of aspirin.

"You okay?" Dean asked with concern.

Amanda found the desired medicine bottle and glanced at her brother with what she hoped came across as a reassuring smile and not a grimace, "I'm fine, just a headache. Every time I have one of those dreams, my skull feels like it's going to implode."

Dean reached over and turned down the volume on the radio as a courtesy, the least he could do in a helpless situation. Amanda didn't comment on it, knowing Dean would just say something about her being a sappy girl if she thanked him, and instead she asked, "Where are we?"

"Just on the other side of Flagstaff." Dean answered, "You hungry?"

Amanda knew she should be, they had yet to stop for a meal and it was approaching nightfall, but her stomach was in knots with worry. She wasn't even sure if she would be able to force down a sandwich at the moment, but she didn't want Dean to look any more worried and tense than he already did, so she shrugged half-heartedly, "If you want to stop, we can."

"You need to keep up your strength." Dean started to lecture, but fell silent when Amanda's phone rang.

Amanda stared at the small grey phone with a look of dread, praying that this wasn't a call saying that they were too late. All day long, that had been her biggest fear. With a shaky voice, she answered the phone, "Hey Sam."

"She refuses to leave. I'm sure she thinks I'm crazy or that I was having some sort of crazy random drunken dreams last night. She just doesn't get it."

Sam's voice was rushed and slightly panicked, and Amanda could only picture the expression on his face when he spoke. Trying to lower his anxiety, Amanda asked, "Did you use the eyes?"

"What?"

"You know, the 'get whatever you want' puppy eyes." Amanda teased, her voice coming across much calmer than she felt, which she could only be thankful for. If Sam heard her freaking out, he may freak out even more than he already was.

"Ha ha." Sam retorted dryly, "Seriously, Mandy, she thinks I'm insane and she refuses to go to a hotel for the night."

"I wish there was some way to know when this was supposed to happen." Amanda mused, "At least then we could have a time frame and perhaps you guys could just go to a late movie or out to a bar or something."

"No kidding." Sam paused, then asked, "Where are you guys at? When do you think you'll be here?"

Amanda looked at Dean, then at the speedometer before responding, "We're about ten hours out. Without any stops, we can probably be there around 4 to 4:30 am. Do you have salt? Salt and iron rounds? Anything to protect yourself and Jess?"

"Of course. I may not be actively hunting but I didn't forget all of Dad's training."

Dean nudged Amanda's shoulder and murmured, "Tell him to take her out somewhere...dinner, a movie, a long drive. Keep them out of the apartment as long as possible and I'll push it a little harder, try to shave some time off."

"Sammy, Dean is going to drive with a bit of a heavier foot and we're going to be there as soon as humanly possible. Dean suggests taking her out for a night out and postponing your return as long as possible." Amanda said soothingly, "I'll keep in touch with you and you keep in touch with us. We're going to beat this."

"Damn straight we're going to beat this." Sam said fiercely, "I'm half-tempted to call Dad; if it has the same MO as the thing that killed Mom, who's to say it's not the same bastard?"

"No, don't do that." Amanda discouraged, "Dean and I will be there as soon as we can. Call if you need some help." She was about to say her goodbyes and hang up when she suddenly had a thought, asking, "Any wiccan stores in the area? Maybe you can put together a good mojo bag or a hoodoo bag to ward off whatever it is? It's hard to make something without a specific entity in mind, but you can throw something together."

"Wouldn't hurt." Sam agreed, "I'll check into it. Thanks."

"No problem. Stay safe."

"You too."

Amanda hung up, rubbing her eyes partially because she was tired and partly because her head still ached from her nap. She tapped her foot against the floor impatiently, wishing they could just snap their fingers and be in Palo Alto. She stared out the window in silence, unable to shake the overwhelming sense of dread that had built up inside of her as the day had progressed. She hated feeling powerless, she wanted to lay eyes on Sam and know he was okay and she wanted to gank this bastard who was targeting Sam's girlfriend. It was maddening to be confined to the limits of time and space and know there was nothing she could do. She couldn't even plan, because she had no idea what they were up against.

"Sam wants to call Dad, in case it's the same thing that killed Mom." Amanda mentioned, needing to have something to talk about, something that would pass by the seconds and minutes instead of sitting in silence and dwelling on what she couldn't change.

"Good luck with that." Dean scoffed, knowing that if Sam tried, he'd get the same disconnect notice that they had gotten. Even if their dad's phone was in service, Dean doubted their dad would answer a call from Sam.

Amanda snorted in agreement, but then fell silent. As much as she wanted the distraction of a conversation, it felt wrong to make small talk or to even think about something other than what was happening to Sam. She thought back to her dream, trying to remember every last detail. She had been able to feel Sam's love towards Jess at the beginning, and then the terror and dread once he had opened his eyes to see his girlfriend on the ceiling. She had been able to feel the heat radiating down upon him and had smelled the burning human flesh. What she hadn't felt, though, was the cold chill that usually accompanied a ghost. Nor had she smelled the sulphur of a demon. What could have pinned Jess to the ceiling without calling attention to itself? Without physically holding her there? What could have split her open at that exact minute and caused her to start bleeding? What wasn't Jess screaming? If her eyes were open and she wasn't dead yet, why wasn't she reacting? What had that sort of power?

Suddenly, her head seared with pain and she gasped, pressing her hands against the sides of her head and bending over, resting her head against her knees. She was vaguely aware of Dean's presence but within seconds all she could see, feel and hear was Sam and Jessica's bedroom. The room smelled of lavender and the shower was running as Sam walked into the dark bedroom, finishing off a cookie. The glowing red numbers on the clock read 1:00. He flopped down onto the bed, calling out to his girlfriend, not too concerned when he didn't get a response. He felt something drip onto his head, and he went to wipe it away, though he didn't really think much of it until he felt a second drop. Alarmed, he opened his eyes and was met with the sight of Jessica pinned to the ceiling, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a silent scream. The ceiling burst into flames and the smell of smoke, fire and flesh invaded her nostrils. Her own heart raced as she screamed for Sam, but he was intently staring at his girlfriend, screaming her name as he gave in to shock and panic.

When she snapped out of the dream...vision?...she immediately grasped the door handle, blurting out frantically, "I'm going to throw up, pull over."

As she came to her senses, she realized that one, the car was already stopped, and two, Dean was staring at her with a look akin to horror on his face. She didn't have time to dwell on this, though, as bile surged into her throat. She scrambled out of the car, bending over with her hands on her knees. Her stomach churned and her head was killing her, and she desperately tried to take some deep breaths to steady herself. A few moments passed and so did the queasy feeling, and she lifted her aching head to meet Dean's gaze. He was standing in front of her, watching her with more concern than she had ever seen from her big brother before.

"I'm okay." she said after a few seconds, sure now that she was not in danger of ruining Dean's shoes, "We should hurry."

"What was that?" Dean asked, his voice laced with the same concern that she had seen on his face, "Are you sure you're good?"

"The dreams don't just happen when I'm asleep, apparently." Amanda replied, her hands shaking as she fully realized what had just happened. She looked at her brother, and as if the past ten minutes weren't embarrassing enough, she felt tears stinging her eyes. They had faced countless dangerous situations in their line of work, but she had never felt so terrified before. What was happening? What was wrong with her? Before she had a chance to protest, Dean wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug, murmuring quietly that everything was going to be okay. She allowed the tears to fall for just a few minutes, absorbing the comfort and support of her older brother. She had no doubt in her mind that when he said it would be okay, it would definitely be okay. He had never let her down before and she had no reason to believe he would start now.

Dean pulled Amanda close, not only for her sake but for his own as well. He hadn't known what was happening when she started clawing at her head and gasping for breath, and it was unnerving to see the vacant look on her face once she had slipped fully into the vision. He had immediately pulled over and stopped the car so he could properly shake her shoulder and try to figure out what was going on, but nothing he did could pull her from whatever it was she was seeing. Suddenly, she had snapped back into action, grabbing at the door handle, her face ashen and her eyes watery, declaring that she was sick, though Dean didn't need her to tell him verbally-her expression told him all he needed to know.

He had quickly exited the car as well, not knowing what had happened and if she would need assistance. He was scared for her and he felt helpless, which was one of his least favorite feelings in the world, so all he could do was stand nearby and wait until there was something he could fix and make better. Dean was quite relieved when her nausea seemed to pass without incident, though his heart broke when she looked up and met his gaze. He had seen her in various states of disarray over their many years together, but he had never seen her look so broken and frightened as she did now. Not knowing how to make it better and seeing the tears shining in her eyes, he quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, unsurprised when dampness seeped through his shirt, her body shaking with sobs. He patted her back gently, promising that everything would work out, and after just a few minutes she pulled away, seemingly pulling herself together after her small outburst.

"1 am...that's when I saw it happening." Amanda said, pulling out her cell phone, "I need to call Sam, they absolutely cannot be at home at 1 am."

"Is it going to be tonight?" Dean asked, holding open her car door as she dialed Sam's number, "I can try to get us there by 1, but I don't know if we'll make it."

"I don't know." Amanda said, frustration seeping into her tone. Dean didn't particularly like a frustrated Amanda, because it typically led to a moody, bitchy Amanda, but he preferred it over the broken Amanda that he had seen just moments before. "Damn it Sam, answer your phone!" She snapped after the voicemail button beeped, then she hung up the phone with a growl.

"We'll keep trying." Dean reassured her, pressing his foot harder on the gas pedal.

The screen on Amanda's phone lit up, signaling to the siblings that the phone was about to ring. Amanda clutched it tightly, answering as soon as the call appeared on her screen, "Sam."

"It's going to happen at 1 am." Both Amanda and Sam said in unison.

"You saw it too?" Amanda questioned, "The clock?"

"Obviously." Sam retorted, his voice sounding weary and exhausted, much unlike the carefree and happy Sam she usually spoke to. "But you guys won't be here until after."

"Not unless we find our spare teleporter." Amanda replied sarcastically, though her tone softened almost immediately as she said quietly, "I'm sorry, Sam. I wish we could snap our fingers and be there."

"I know." Sam sighed, his voice strained from stress, "We're going to go out to dinner and to a movie. Hopefully I can stretch that past 1 am and we'll be out of the woods for tonight."

"Keep in touch."

"Drive faster."

Amanda hung up and glanced at the dashboard of the Impala, knowing driving faster wasn't an option judging by the gauges; the car certainly could push harder, but they wouldn't do any good to Sam if they were wrapped around a tree because they were driving more recklessly than they already were.

"We'll make it." Dean said firmly, though they both knew he wasn't trying to convince Amanda as much as he was trying to convince himself.

The drive continued in silence, neither in the mood for small talk nor up for a discussion on what was possibly happening to their brother and his girlfriend. Dean cranked up the volume on the cassette player, the tempo of the music helping to keep his foot heavy and to keep Amanda from trying to initiate a heart-to-heart, however unlikely that may be. The music didn't stop him from glancing in her direction every so often to make sure she was okay; he couldn't just turn off his concern for the sibling that had remained behind, who had chosen their life instead of taking a shot at the apple pie life that Sam was determined to achieve. He could tell her head was hurting still, though she hadn't said anything, and he could practically see the gears turning in her head while she pondered a possible solution.

While Dean was all action and Sam was all smarts, Amanda was a planner. She kept their supplies stocked, she never entered a situation without three scenarios of how it would go down and twice as many exit strategies. He knew it had to be driving her crazy to be running into this blind.

They had just crossed into California when the clock struck 1:00 am, and while Amanda had dozed off about an hour earlier (thankfully, it seemed to be a restful slumber), Dean was awake and alert, waiting on word from Sam. The time changed from 1:00 to 1:01 and Dean reached for the cell phone sitting on Amanda's lap. He was going to give Sam until 1:05 to call and give them the 'all clear' or he was going to call Sam himself, grudges be damned. He tapped his fingers anxiously against the steering wheel with one hand, the other gripping the small phone tightly in anticipation of a call from Sam.

Sure enough, at 1:03 the vibrated and before it even had a chance to give one full ring, Dean had it pressed against his ear.

"Sam?"

"We're fine." Sam's voice rang through the line, a mixture of relief and exhaustion, "We just left a bar and we're heading back to the apartment."

Relief washed through Dean as he heard his little brother's voice, leaving him slightly light headed as he was finally able to let himself relax. "Awesome, we'll be in town in a few hours. We'll call when we arrive and in the morning we can meet up and figure out a plan. Just because you were lucky tonight doesn't mean you're out of danger."

"I know. Thanks, Dean."

"Just doing my job...bitch."

"Jerk." Sam laughed before hanging up.

Dean had been worried that talking to Sam, seeing Sam, would be awkward and uncomfortable, but now that he had actually spoken to his little brother, he was suddenly excited to lay his eyes on him. Reaching over, he shook Amanda's shoulder, "Mandy, wake up."

"Sam?" Amanda murmured, somewhere between being fully awake and still dozing, "What's going on?"

"They made it past one...they're going back to their apartment now. We'll be there within the next couple of hours."

Amanda rubbed her eyes, relief flooding through her as Dean's words made their way through her foggy brain, "Oh, thank God."

"You want to drive for a bit?" Dean asked with a yawn. Normally, long drives were relaxing and Dean could keep going for unnatural lengths of time, but he had spent so much of his day tense and worried about Sam that he was simply exhausted now. Amanda, on the other hand, had napped quite a bit and he felt she was probably the one least likely to doze off behind the wheel at this point.

"Sure!"

Amanda rarely got to drive, and therefore never passed up the opportunity. In a fluid move that had been executed numerous times in the past, they checked their surroundings and once sure that there was no one in the immediate vicinity, Amanda grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and propped herself up with her other hand on the dashboard as Dean slid underneath her. She settled into the driver's seat and put her foot down on the gas pedal, the fluid transition only slowing them down slightly. It was less time consuming than pulling over and switching places, and while the danger had passed for the night, they were both ready to get there as soon as possible. Texas to California was a lengthy trip and both were ready to hit the beds in a motel near Palo Alto.

It didn't take long before Dean was lightly snoring in the seat next to her, and she took advantage of his slumber to put her earbud in one ear and turn up her own music. Unlike Dean, who was relieved to be getting closer to their brother, Amanda was starting to feel panicky and apprehensive now that they were actually in California. It was much easier to be supportive of her twin when he was away at school and she was on the other side of the country. Now that they were in California, she could feel a fair bit of jealousy rising and she absolutely hated herself for being jealous. After all, she had chosen to stay with Dad and Dean and not to go away to school. It was her choice, so she had nothing to be jealous of...except, of course, that she had made the choice because she was scared to leave which meant she was not only jealous that Sam was experiencing college life-something that was made to look so incredibly awesome on television-but also that he was strong enough to make a hard decision and follow through regardless of the fallout.

With these thoughts in her mind, she wished Dean was awake so they could talk about something else as a distraction...so she didn't have to picture green, luscious sprawling grounds at a prestigious university, the smell of fresh textbooks and notebook paper, her brother hanging out with his girlfriend and their friends at a bar or drinking coffee or some other hipster douchebag activity that she could totally see Sam doing just so he could fit in with the other students he had encountered. Instead, the last few years of her life were spent in musty libraries, musty and moldy hotel rooms with only her Dad, Dean and their guns that needed cleaning and bullets that needed prepping. She rarely felt jealous and robbed of the 'normal' experience, but when it hit her, it hit hard. With a sigh, Amanda turned off her ipod and reached for her cell phone, wanting to call Sam and talk-he always seemed to feel when she was in a wistful, regretting, jealous and petty mood and was more than willing to tell her what sort of crappy thing had happened lately. Usually his tales were pretty lame-an assignment he botched, forgetting to pay his cafeteria fee and having to go to class all day on an empty stomach (which was actually horrifying to her, since she rarely missed a meal, though she knew it wasn't as hard for Sam as he made it seem)-but it made her feel better that he still knew her well enough to know she needed to hear someone else's life sucked sometimes too just so she could feel better about not being there too. Her finger hovered over the keypad for a brief moment before she put the phone back down, not wanting to disturb Sam and Jess, and more importantly, not wanting to make things awkward when they did arrive. She was in touch with her thought processes enough to know that once she actually laid eyes on her brother, the apprehension would vanish in an instant.

She estimated they were about 3 hours away, if she kept them at this speed, possibly less if she put her foot down a little harder. With one hand, she reached for the tape deck and flipped through it until she came across a Queen cassette, and popped it in the cassette player, turning the volume down enough to where it wouldn't disturb Dean but still loud enough to distract her from her thoughts.

Several hours away, in Palo Alto, Sam and Jessica were walking upstairs to their apartment, Jess giggling about something Sam had said and Sam's movements clearly uncoordinated and sluggish. Perhaps they had a bit too much to drink, but as they were ordering shots with their friends, Sam hadn't been able to turn down a second, third or fourth round. He had worked so hard to get out of the life, to get away from hunting, and despite all of the effort he had made, something was after him and his girlfriend. Not that he would ever admit it to Dean or Amanda, but Sam was not looking forward to introducing them to Jess. As far as Jess knew, he and his family had a strained relationship but they were still in the realm of 'normal'. Five minutes with Dean would totally shatter that image, especially since he could already picture Dean flirting with his girlfriend, talking to her in the creepy pervy way that seemed to work well with most girls he picked up at trashy roadside bars but were not the norm amongst his college buddies. He could picture Amanda being affectionate and excitable, but knew that the switch could easily be flipped to testy and resentful if he or Jess said the wrong thing. He was just glad that their Dad wouldn't be joining them.

Sam fumbled to get the keys into the lock, his brain fuzzy from tequila and exhaustion. He needed to get inside and get some sleep, not only because his siblings would be ready to work in the morning, but also because he needed to be in the best shape possible for his law school interview Monday morning. Slightly giddy, he realized it was past midnight, so his interview was actually tomorrow, which felt so much closer than Monday in his mind. Finally, he managed to make the lock work, and the door swung open. He tossed his keys on to the table right inside the door and flipped on the light. "I could have sworn we left the TV on?"

"We did." Jess confirmed, her voice slightly slurred, "Power must have flickered or something." She dropped her purse onto the sofa, then snagged a cookie off of a plate in the kitchen, "The oven reset too."

"Are you going to shower before bed?" Sam asked, unbuttoning his shirt and kicking off his shoes. Normally he liked to keep things tidy and would be making an effort to put things where they belonged, but he was buzzed and tired and could only think of a hot shower and their soft bed.

"Yeah, unless you want to go first." Jess replied, stumbling back into the living room and adding seductively, "Or you could always join me."

Sam grinned, "I don't take advantage of drunk women."

"Who says you'd be taking advantage?" Jess asked with a laugh, kissing him gently on the lips, "I'll hurry and then we can go to bed, it's late."

"Sure." Sam replied, knowing that 'hurry' was a relative term when it came to Jess and their shower. He probably had another 30 minutes to wait before he'd see her again. He sat at the desk to check his email, though when he turned on the laptop the bright screen instantly gave him a headache. He turned it off, heading into the kitchen for an aspirin and water, and then decided it would be in his best interest to lay down until Jessica was done with her shower. The fact that his head was hurting already meant that he'd be suffering in the morning, and he hoped the aspirin, water and rest would counteract the effects of what promised to be a nasty hangover. The red numbers on the oven flashed 12:58 and Sam frowned, thinking he needed to set the time after the power failure, but he was too sluggish and exhausted to fiddle with it. He'd have to fix it in the morning, or maybe Jess would when she got up to brew coffee. After all, it wasn't important.

He pulled his shirt off and tossed it into the hamper just inside the bedroom door as he stumbled towards their bed, the shower running and the room warm from the steam escaping through the crack in the slightly opened bathroom door. It crossed his mind that he should take off his pants as well, they smelled like a bar-stale cigarettes and beer that would undoubtedly transfer to their bedspread, but he was too tired and he flopped down onto his back.

A sideways glance showed the numbers on the alarm clock turning from 12:59 to 1:00, blinking in a way that reminded him that all of the clocks needed to be reset. Something about the clock struck him as important, but he was already starting to doze off and he couldn't remember why. Something wet dropped onto his forehead, and he grinned with his eyes still closed, "Not now Jess, I'm too tired. We can fool around in the morning."

There was no response, just another drip, and suddenly everything clicked into place in his mind and his eyes flew open. Above him, Jessica was pinned to the ceiling, blood dripping, and the room burst into flames. Terrified and suddenly very sober, Sam screamed and froze for a split second before reaching into his pocket for his phone. The room was quickly enveloped in flames and he barely had time to grab a shirt and back out of the room as the fire spread from the ceiling to the walls, the curtains, the floor, the bed. He hysterically called 911, panicked and sobbing, and as soon as the dispatcher confirmed paramedics and fire were en route, Sam hung up, taking a few deep breaths and dialing the number of someone who could actually do something to help.

Amanda had been driving for nearly an hour and a half when she felt pressure building up inside her skull, the lights outside blurring for a moment and a general unease overpowering her. She must have made a distressed noise or something, because her vision darkened for a split second and the next thing she was aware of was Dean yelling at her to pull over. She quickly obeyed, jumping out of the car as soon as it had stopped and pacing the length of the vehicle that was practically their home.

"What the fuck?!" Dean shouted, getting out of the car and grabbing her by the shoulders, "Mandy, what's going on?"

She pulled out of his grasp, her breath coming in short gasps as she gave into the panic she was feeling. She pulled slightly at her hair, making more sounds of distress that were eventually cut off by coughing as she lost the battle to regulate her breathing in an appropriate fashion. Bile burned her throat, but she refused to give in, and instead she continued to pace around the car until she felt too dizzy to continue.

"Amanda!"

The phone rang from inside the car and she immediately leaned over and vomited onto the ground, overwhelmed with emotion and knowing that this was the call they've been dreading. By the time Dean had finished talking just moments later, she had vomited twice more, her heart fluttering and her breath wheezy as she continued to give in to the panic attack that had taken over. She could feel and hear the blood rushing through her ears and she felt jittery and unsteady. Dean wanted answers, but how could she explain what was happening to him when she couldn't really understand it herself? Memories that didn't belong to her flashed before her eyes, snapshots of what had just happened with Sam and Jessica. She didn't need anyone to tell her that they had been wrong, that they had lost Sam's girlfriend, she just knew. She could feel Sam's anguish mixing with her own panic. What was happening? She and Sam had always been close and always sensitive and sympathetic to each other's pain, but this was a whole new level of strange.

"Woah, you okay?" Dean asked, appearing by her side and taking in the sight of his sister, pale and shaking and surrounded by sickness, "We need to go. Are you okay to go?"

Amanda shook her head, then nodded. Tears stung her eyes as she looked up at Dean, "I don't know. I'm so scared."

"Talk to me." His order wasn't harsh or demanding, but comforting and quiet, and he reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. They needed to get to Sam, but if she wasn't ready to get back on the road...the car was a classic, after all, he didn't want any damage done to the upholstery.

Amanda took a deep breath, then exhaled, still light headed and not sure she was done puking, but she did her best to comply with Dean's questioning, "I don't know what's happening. My head hurts. I saw...something...Jess and Sam and the fire." she pushed her hands against the sides of her head forcefully, trying to make the throbbing stop, "God, it hurts. I could feel Sam-like, his thoughts and emotions and everything while it happened. I've never had anything like this happen before."

"You and Sam have always had a weird bond." Dean reasoned, "Maybe it's just something stronger because this is so much bigger than anything you've ever experienced?"

"I could feel the heat from the fire. I can almost taste the tequila he was drinking...I mean, tequila!? How do I even know what he was drinking?...We need to get to him."

Dean agreed, but wasn't about to get back into the car until he was sure his sister was going to be alright. He squeezed her shoulder again, trying to be reassuring because he could tell she needed it, "We will. We're going to get him and take care of him and get to the bottom of this. But before we do, I need to know that you aren't going to freak out in the car again."

He leapt out of the way as she suddenly lurched forward and was sick again, and narrowed his gaze, trying to work out this puzzle that was invading their lives at the worst moment possible. Once she was finished, he reached out and placed a hand on her forehead.

"I'm fine."

"My boots aren't." Dean said distastefully, reaching into the trunk for a bottle of water and pouring them over his shoes which had been in the line of fire, "And you're not fine. This is actually what the opposite of fine looks like."

"We need to get to Sam."

"We need for you to not puke in my car."

"I won't."

Dean raised an eyebrow, taking in his sister's pale and sweaty face, and asked skeptically, "You should take a hard look in the mirror and then tell me that again."

"I'm sorry."

"Well don't apologize, it's not like you can control it." Dean huffed, seeming annoyed but Amanda knew him well enough to know that was just worry disguised by anger, "Have you ever heard of anything like this? Is there someone we should call?"

"No. But we really need to go, Sam needs us. We can worry about this later." Amanda took the water bottle from Dean, pouring the last little bit into her mouth, swishing it around and spitting it out onto the ground. She grabbed the plastic grocery bag that Dean had gotten the bottle from and shoved it into her pocket, "Now you don't have to worry about your car. You drive, let's go."

Dean made a face, but couldn't deny that they did need to get back on the road and that his car would be protected if she was lying about feeling better. With one last worried glance, he got into the car, pushing the gas pedal as hard as he could when they pulled back out onto the highway, traffic laws be damned. His baby brother needed him and there was no time to waste.


End file.
